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I think WotC has realized this, which is why WotC's latest monster creation guidelines (in the Wild Beyond the Witchlight Designer's Pack on DMsGuild) states that, "The Spellcasting action must have no relevance to a creature’s CR. Whether or not the DM uses Spellcasting, the monster’s CR must...

Heat metal is the reason I hesitated to add a magma mephit to the solo adventure for a 3rd-level paladin that I'm working on. It's one of those game elements like stun and paralysis that may be balanced for a party of 4 or more PCs but are devastating against a single PC. Taking reference from...

False. If the players get an outcome they don't want, they can jolly well reload from the last save point like the silicon gods of gaming intended. (Whaddya mean using Roll20 doesn't make it a computer game?)

Artist: David Sutherland Source: Players Handbook, 1978 Class: Paladin So good, it inspired a module. Honestly, paladin would probably have been my favorite class even without this picture, but it sealed the deal for me. The lone hero battling against the hordes of evil? Sign me up!

You know, this talk about subclasses for every class made me remember a late 4e mechanic which I thought could have resulted in the most flexible character customization system ever, and it could only have happened in 4e because of the much hated-on (by many of its detractors) AEDU power...

5e also saw the loss of a few iconic 4th-level cleric spells. Cure serious wounds (1e and 2e)/cure critical wounds (3e) got folded into upcast cure wounds, detect lie (1e and 2e)/discern lies (3e) and neutralize poison were probably deemed unnecessary due to zone of truth and protection from...

Rather than free upcasting, I would allow spellcasters to convert lower-level spell slots to spell points and use the spell points to recover higher-level spell slots, in the same way and at the same cost that sorcerers can already convert spell slots to sorcery points and vice-versa. So, at...

Honestly, this, or the "build-a-bear" method mentioned earlier, may be the way to go in 5.5e or 6e. WotC: After five editions, we've given up trying to define what a ranger is, so we've decided to resurrect the class ability point buy system from late 2e's Skills and Powers. So, if you don't...

I no longer have the time to do enough preparation to create a scenario that is extensive enough to meet some peoples' apparent Platonic ideal of a "neutral GM". I can just about read through a premade adventure and keep the key elements of it in mind when I run it. If I actually had to...

The key mechanic is that the PC can't access all their daily spell slots at once. A 2nd-level paladin normally gets two 1st-level spell slots and can use them all in a single encounter if desired. With these changes, the paladin only gets one 1st-level spell slot at a time, and must use the...

1. Play a video of Ocean's 11. 2. Every 20 minutes, ask one of the PCs to make a DC 15 ability check based on what is going on in the movie (e.g. Charisma check if someone is running a con, Dexterity check if someone is picking a pocket, etc.). 3. If the check is failed, rewind and start from...

Pretty much. As far back as I can remember, a 1st-level PC has never been an untrained, callow youth. Every PC was assumed to have received some training in their class - a 1st-level fighter was even called a "Veteran", implying that they have been involved in several battles already. (As an...

Assuming reasonable players, I think the best way to ensure that the Rivals don't get cut down for XP is for them to already have some positive history with the PCs when they meet instead of being strangers with opposing goals that they run into. One rival could be a PC's cousin. Another could...

If you're curious about my take on this issue, you can read about it here: The hit point model of resource recovery

Well, obviously, I got to keep track of the PCs' hit points and death saves to determine how often they need to reload from the last save point.

I've been working on a new campaign setting for my paladin solo adventure, and I've made extensive use of Eberron's dragonmarks to define elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings in the world. First of all, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings are all fey. In the campaign setting, they are all...

Some other system: like Hit Points. Elaboration here.

So, after thinking about short rest vs. long rest resource recovery models for quite a long time, I've come to realize that the model that I like the most has been with us since day one, namely, hit points. The basic concept is that only part of your daily resources are available to you at any...

Agreed. I think the closest real-world analogue to Charm spells is being involuntarily drugged so that your judgement is impaired and you would do things that you would not normally do. So while it is bad, I don't think it is as bad as torture or death.